Hegemonic Masculinity, Violence, and Gender Equality

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Messerschmidt and colleagues have pioneered work in criminology using masculinities theory, yet many researchers in the field have not engaged with the possibility that the different patterning of correlated violent, sexually risky, and antisocial behaviors may reflect a disaggregation of the category of men into multiple masculinities. This lens can help understand men’s violence and enable intervention targeting. We analyzed household survey data and identified three classes of men according to their use of violence and correlated behavior. Associations between masculinity categories and other acts of violence (against women), gender attitudes, and sexually transmitted diseases showed a dose–response relationship across the masculinity categories. Structural equation modeling showed how the psychological variables mediated pathways between exposure to trauma and teasing in childhood and the more violent masculinity categories. Our analysis provides a bridge between gender analysis (with intersectionality) and the psychoanalytic in understanding men’s violence. This is important for interventions to prevent men’s violence against women and other men and support arguments for targeting violence prevention interventions.